Romans 12-16

New Life Version

12 Christian brothers, I ask you from my heart to give your bodies to God because of His loving-kindness to us. Let your bodies be a living and holy gift given to God. He is pleased with this kind of gift. This is the true worship that you should give Him. ² Do not act like the sinful people of the world. Let God change your life. First of all, let Him give you a new mind. Then you will know what God wants you to do. And the things you do will be good and pleasing and perfect.

³ God has given me His loving-favor. This helps me write these things to you. I ask each one of you not to think more of himself than he should think. Instead, think in the right way toward yourself by the faith God has given you. ⁴ Our bodies are made up of many parts. None of these parts have the same use. ⁵ There are many people who belong to Christ. And yet, we are one body which is Christ’s. We are all different but we depend on each other. ⁶ We all have different gifts that God has given to us by His loving-favor. We are to use them. If someone has the gift of preaching the Good News, he should preach. He should use the faith God has given him. ⁷ If someone has the gift of helping others, then he should help. If someone has the gift of teaching, he should teach. ⁸ If someone has the gift of speaking words of comfort and help, he should speak. If someone has the gift of sharing what he has, he should give from a willing heart. If someone has the gift of leading other people, he should lead them. If someone has the gift of showing kindness to others, he should be happy as he does it.

⁹ Be sure your love is true love. Hate what is sinful. Hold on to whatever is good. ¹⁰ Love each other as Christian brothers. Show respect for each other. ¹¹ Do not be lazy but always work hard. Work for the Lord with a heart full of love for Him. ¹² Be happy in your hope. Do not give up when trouble comes. Do not let anything stop you from praying. ¹³ Share what you have with Christian brothers who are in need. Give meals and a place to stay to those who need it. ¹⁴ Pray and give thanks for those who make trouble for you. Yes, pray for them instead of talking against them. ¹⁵ Be happy with those who are happy. Be sad with those who are sad. ¹⁶ Live in peace with each other. Do not act or think with pride. Be happy to be with poor people. Keep yourself from thinking you are so wise. ¹⁷ When someone does something bad to you, do not pay him back with something bad. Try to do what all men know is right and good. ¹⁸ As much as you can, live in peace with all men. ¹⁹ Christian brothers, never pay back someone for the bad he has done to you. Let the anger of God take care of the other person. The Holy Writings say, “I will pay back to them what they should get, says the Lord.” ^{(A) 20} “If the one who hates you is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him water. If you do that, you will be making him more ashamed of himself.” ^{(B) 21} Do not let sin have power over you. Let good have power over sin!

13 Every person must obey the leaders of the land. There is no power given but from God, and all leaders are allowed by God. ² The person who does not obey the leaders of the land is working against what God has done. Anyone who does that will be punished.

³ Those who do right do not have to be afraid of the leaders. Those who do wrong are afraid of them. Do you want to be free from fear of them? Then do what is right. You will be respected instead. ⁴ Leaders are God’s servants to help you. If you do wrong, you should be afraid. They have the power to punish you. They work for God. They do what God wants done to those who do wrong.

⁵ You must obey the leaders of the land, not only to keep from God’s anger, but so your own heart will have peace. ⁶ It is right for you to pay taxes because the leaders of the land are servants for God who care for these things. ⁷ Pay taxes to whom taxes are to be paid. Be afraid of those you should fear. Respect those you should respect.

⁸ Do not owe anyone anything, but love each other. Whoever loves his neighbor has done what the Law says to do. ⁹ The Law says, “You must not do any sex sin. You must not kill another person. You must not steal. You must not tell a lie about another person. You must not want something someone else has.” The Law also says that these and many other Laws are brought together in one Law, “You must love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰ Anyone who loves his neighbor will do no wrong to him. You keep the Law with love.

¹¹ There is another reason for doing what is right. You know what time it is. It is time for you to wake up from your sleep. The time when we will be taken up to be with Christ is not as far off as when we first put our trust in Him. ¹² Night is almost gone. Day is almost here. We must stop doing the sinful things that are done in the dark. We must put on all the things God gives us to fight with for the day. ¹³ We must act all the time as if it were day. Keep away from wild parties and do not be drunk. Keep yourself free from sex sins and bad actions. Do not fight or be jealous. ¹⁴ Let every part of you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. Do not allow your weak thoughts to lead you into sinful actions.

14 If there is someone whose faith is weak, be kind and receive him. Do not argue about what he thinks. ² One man believes he may eat everything. Another man with weak faith eats only vegetables. ³ The man who eats everything should not think he is better than the one who eats only vegetables. The man who eats only vegetables should not say the other man is wrong, because God has received him. ⁴ Who are you to tell another person’s servant if he is right or wrong? It is to his owner that he does good or bad. The Lord is able to help him.

⁵ One man thinks one day is more important than another. Another man thinks every day is the same. Every man must be sure in his own mind. ⁶ The man who worships on a special day does it to honor the Lord. The man who eats meat does it to honor the Lord. He gives thanks to God for what he eats. The other man does not eat meat. In this way, he honors the Lord. He gives thanks to God also.

⁷ No one lives for himself alone. No one dies for himself alone. ⁸ If we live, it is for the Lord. If we die, it is for the Lord. If we live or die, we belong to the Lord. ⁹ Christ died and lived again. This is why He is the Lord of the living and of the dead. ¹⁰ Why do you try to say your Christian brother is right or wrong? Why do you hate your Christian brother? We will all stand before God to be judged by Him. ¹¹ The Holy Writings say, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before Me. And every tongue will say that I am God.” ¹² Everyone of us will give an answer to God about himself.

¹³ So you should stop saying that you think other people are wrong. Instead, decide to live so that your Christian brother will not have a reason to trip or fall into sin because of you. ¹⁴ Christ has made me know that everything in itself is clean. But if a person thinks something is not clean, then to him it is not clean. ¹⁵ If your Christian brother is hurt because of some foods you eat, then you are no longer living by love. Do not destroy the man for whom Christ died by the food you eat. ¹⁶ Do not let what is good for you be talked about as bad. ¹⁷ For the holy nation of God is not food and drink. It is being right with God. It is peace and joy given by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ If you follow Christ in these things, God will be happy with you. Men will think well of you also.

¹⁹ Work for the things that make peace and help each other become stronger Christians. ²⁰ Do not destroy what God has done just because of some food. All food is good to eat. But it is wrong to eat anything that will make someone fall into sin. ²¹ Do not eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it would make your Christian brother fall into sin. ²² Keep the faith you have between yourself and God. A man is happy if he knows he is doing right. ²³ But if he has doubts about the food he eats, God says he is guilty when he eats it. It is because he is eating without faith. Anything that is not done in faith is sin.

15 We who have strong faith should help those who are weak. We should not live to please ourselves. ² Each of us should live to please his neighbor. This will help him grow in faith. ³ Even Christ did not please Himself. The Holy Writings say, “The sharp words spoken against you fell on Me.” ^{(C) 4} Everything that was written in the Holy Writings long ago was written to teach us. By not giving up, God’s Word gives us strength and hope. ⁵ Now the God Who helps you not to give up and gives you strength will help you think so you can please each other as Christ Jesus did. ⁶ Then all of you together can thank the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁷ Receive each other as Christ received you. This will honor God. ⁸ Christ came to help the Jews. This proved that God had told the truth to their early fathers. This proved that God would do what He promised. ⁹ This was done so the people who are not Jews can thank God for His loving-kindness. The Holy Writings say, “This is why I will give thanks to you among the people who are not Jews. I will sing to Your name.” ^{(D) 10} It says also, “You who are not Jews, be happy with His people, the Jews.” ^{(E) 11} And, “Honor and give thanks to the Lord, you who are not Jews. Let everyone honor Him.” ^{(F) 12} And Isaiah says, “There will be One from the family of Jesse Who will be a leader over the people who are not Jews. Their hope will be in Him.” ^{(G) 13} Our hope comes from God. May He fill you with joy and peace because of your trust in Him. May your hope grow stronger by the power of the Holy Spirit.

¹⁴ I am sure you are wise in all things and full of much good. You are able to help and teach each other. ¹⁵ I have written to you with strong words about some things. I have written so you would remember. God helped me write like this. ¹⁶ I am able to write these things because God made me a missionary to the people who are not Jews. I work as a servant of Jesus Christ. I preach the Good News of God so the people who are not Jews may be as a gift to God. The Holy Spirit will set them apart so God will be pleased with them. ¹⁷ I have reason to be proud of my work for God. It is because I belong to Christ Jesus. ¹⁸ I can only speak of what Christ has done through me. I have helped the people who are not Jews to obey Him. I have done it by words and by living with them. ¹⁹ God showed them His power through me. The Holy Spirit did powerful works through me in front of them. From Jerusalem to the country of Illyricum I have preached the Good News of Christ. ²⁰ It is my desire to preach the Good News where it has never been preached. I want to preach only where Christ is not known. ²¹ The Holy Writings say, “Those who have never known about Him will see. And those who have never heard about Him will understand.” ^(H)

²² This is why I have been kept many times from coming to you. ²³ But now I am finished with my work here. I have been wanting to come and visit you for many years. ²⁴ I hope I can now. I am making plans to go to the country of Spain. On my way there I will stop and visit you. After I have had the joy of visiting you for awhile, you can help me on my way again. ²⁵ But now I am going to Jerusalem to hand the Christians the gift of money. ²⁶ The churches in the countries of Macedonia and Greece have decided to give money to help some of the poor Christians in Jerusalem. ²⁷ They wanted to do it. They should help them in this way because they owe much to the Christians in Jerusalem. The Jews shared the Good News with the people who are not Jews. For this reason, they should share what they can with the Jews. ²⁸ I will hand this gift of money to them. Then I will stop to see you on my way to the country of Spain. ²⁹ I know that when I come to you, Christ will give me much good to share with you.

³⁰ I ask you from my heart, Christian brothers, to pray much for me. I ask this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ³¹ Pray that God will keep me safe from the people in the country of Judea who are not Christians. Pray also that the work I am to do for the Christians in Jerusalem will help them. ³² Then I will be coming to you if God wants me to come. I will be full of joy, and together we can have some rest. ³³ May our God Who gives us peace, be with you all. Let it be so.

16 I want to let you know about our Christian sister Phoebe. She is a helper in the church in the city of Cenchrea. ² The Christians should receive her as a sister who belongs to the Lord. Help her any way you can. She has helped many people and has helped me also.

³ Greet Priscilla and Aquila. They worked with me for Christ. ⁴ They almost died for me. I am thankful for them. All the churches that were started among the people who are not Jews are thankful for them also. ⁵ Greet the church that worships in their house. Greet Epaenetus, my much-loved friend. He was the first Christian in the countries of Asia. ⁶ Greet Mary. She worked hard for you. ⁷ Greet Andronicus and Junias. They are from my family and were in prison with me. They put their trust in Christ before I did. They have been respected missionaries. ⁸ Greet Ampliatus. He is a much-loved Christian brother. ⁹ Greet Urbanus. He worked with us for Christ. Greet Stachys, my much-loved friend. ¹⁰ Greet Apelles. He proved he was faithful to Christ. Greet all the family of Aristobulus. ¹¹ Greet Herodian. He is one of my family. Greet the Christians in the family of Narcissus. ¹² Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa and Persis. They are all much-loved workmen for the Lord. ¹³ Greet Rufus and his mother. She was like a mother to me. Rufus is a good Christian. ¹⁴ Greet Asyncritus and Phlegon and Hermes and Patrobas and Hermas and all the Christians with them. ¹⁵ Greet Philologus and Julia and Nereus and his sister and Olympas and all the Christians with them.

¹⁶ Greet each other with a kiss of holy love. All the churches here greet you.

¹⁷ I ask you, Christian brothers, watch out for those who make trouble and start fights. Keep your eye on those who work against the teaching you received. Keep away from them. ¹⁸ Men like that are not working for our Lord Jesus Christ. They are chained to their own desires. With soft words they say things people want to hear. People are fooled by them. ¹⁹ Everyone knows you have obeyed the teaching you received. I am happy with you because of this. But I want you to be wise about good things and pure about sinful things. ²⁰ God, Who is our peace, will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the loving-favor of our Lord Jesus be yours. ²¹ Timothy, my helper, greets you. Lucius and Jason and Sosipater from my family say hello also. ²² I, Tertius, who am writing this letter for Paul, greet you as a Christian brother. ²³ Gaius is the man taking care of me. The church meets here in his house. He greets you. Erastus, the man who takes care of the money for the city, says hello and Quartus does also. He is a Christian brother. ²⁴ *May you have loving-favor from our Lord Jesus Christ. Let it be so.

²⁵ We give honor to God. He is able to make you strong as I preach from the Holy Writings about Jesus Christ. It was a secret hidden from the beginning of the world. ²⁶ But now it is for us to know. The early preachers wrote about it. God says it is to be preached to all the people of the world so men can put their trust in God and obey Him.

²⁷ May God, Who only is wise, be honored forever through our Lord Jesus Christ. Let it be so.